Puente de Vallecas [Spain], September 1 : Barcelona's young attacking sensation Lamine Yamal shattered yet another record after converting a much-debated penalty during the 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano in the La Liga.
In the 40th minute of the match, Yamal converted from the spot by sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and became the youngest to score a penalty in La Liga in the 21st century at the age of 18 years and 49 days, according to Goal.com.
The decision to hand Barcelona a penalty in the fixture sparked debate among fans and experts. Yamal, quick on his feet, danced inside Vallecano's box before going down after a challenge from left-back Pep Chavarria.
The referee pointed to the spot, handing Barcelona a penalty. Vallecano players had no chance to challenge the decision due to a breakdown in the VAR system, and both teams were informed about the technical glitch beforehand.
Yamal's penalty conversion proved insufficient to ensure three points for Barcelona after Fran Perez netted the equaliser in the 67th minute, as the home fans went into frenzy. Vallecano had a couple more chances but failed to convert them, and the game ended in a draw.
The 18-year-old owns many records, including being the youngest starter for Barcelona in the 21st century, the youngest player to provide an assist, the youngest player to score, and the first to score a brace under 17. He also holds the record for being the youngest to notch more than 10 goal contributions.
After the end of the game, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick delivered an unfiltered review of the game and said, as quoted from ESPN, "We didn't deserve more than one point. At the end, we had a fantastic goalkeeper today because we made too many mistakes."
"I am not happy with my team. I think we made it too easy to get the ball; we lost a lot of balls. This is what we have to make better. Too many mistakes, too many errors, and this is why Rayo came back. It's not a good game for us. We have to play much better, much better," he concluded.